


Loving Can Hurt

by elliesauruswriter



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/M, Falling In Love, Growing Up Together, Hurt/Comfort, Some Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-11 15:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7057702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliesauruswriter/pseuds/elliesauruswriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen & Claire have been in love nearly their entire lives (though they haven't always known it); and their relationship has always been a bit complicated at best. However, after Owen ends up in an accident on the island that has put him into a coma, it leaves Claire to not only think about their past together, but their future and lives on the island as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hi :D Okay, so, super nervous here, this is my first fan fic pretty much. I mean, I've written fan fics before but I've usually chickened out and haven't technically published them, I just kinda kept them for myself along with my other writing. I wanted to have this chapter be a bit longer, but it felt better to just end it where I left it, so I apologize for it being a bit short for a first chapter! I don't know how long it'll be, but I know it's an idea that's been haunting me for a while so I'm finally just putting it out here, here goes nothing!!

    Claire’s heart was racing, it seemed as if the helicopter couldn’t fly fast enough to get them away from the island. It was a freak accident that shouldn’t have even happened in the first place; the T-Rex caretaker had called in sick and of course Owen volunteered to fill in. All it took was one misstep, one moment for him to let his guard down, and before anyone realized it, he was thrown across the paddock with one powerful blow - bones broken, gashes bleeding, a deep wound in the back of his head that had him knocked out - but somehow he was still breathing. Claire was shaking, holding Owen’s bloody hand and trying her best to stay together though she felt like falling apart. 

 

    “Don’t you dare die on me Owen, you promised.” Claire managed to say though her voice was breaking and her lips were quivering. 

 

    He just laid there, unmoving and unresponsive as he had been for the past fifteen minutes. He couldn’t leave her, not now, not like this, not after everything they’ve been through together. Owen was all she truly had, and if he left her now, Claire didn’t know what she would do other than fall to pieces. 

 

    “Come back Owen, please come back.” Claire whispered as she pressed a kiss to his hand. 

  
  


* * *

 

**27 Years Ago**

 

    Claire sat and stared out of her bedroom window most of the morning, watching the new neighbors move in next door. It was just a woman and her son who was probably the same age as Claire or maybe even a bit older, yet he helped his mom with nearly every box, even if it was too big for him to really carry. 

 

    “Why don’t you go say hi?” Claire’s mother, Janet, asked, standing in the doorway with Claire’s older sister, Karen, at her side. 

 

    “They look busy.” Claire answered nervously, tugging at the hem of her dress. 

 

    “Come on Claire, it’ll be fine.” Karen assured her. 

 

    Claire was starting kindergarten this coming month, and Karen’s mission all summer had been to help her shy little sister come out of her shell. So far, she failed, but with the new neighbor boy, Claire knew that she wouldn’t give up until she got her to at least talk to their new neighbor. 

 

    “O-okay.” Claire agreed hesitantly, climbing off her bed and being dragged out the door by Karen. 

 

    As soon as they got to the house, Karen burst out into greetings, getting their attention and starting to introduce her and Claire as their neighbors. 

 

    “And this is my little sister, Claire.” Karen cheerily introduced. 

 

    “Uhm...hi.” Claire mumbled, too nervous to look anywhere but down at her feet. 

 

    “It’s very nice to meet you too, Claire.” The older woman replied with a kind smile and tone, enough to get Claire’s attention to look up and notice that the boy beside her in a dinosaur t-shirt looked a bit nervous too. “This is my son, Owen. He’ll probably be in the same class with you, Claire.” 

 

    “Hi.” Owen said quietly and waved at Karen and Claire. 

 

    “Ms. Grady, could Owen come over and play with us?” Karen asked politely. “Claire and I were gonna go play in our backyard.” 

 

    “Sure, Owen’s helped out more than enough today.” Ms. Grady smiled. “Go on, Owen. I’ll call when it’s dinnertime.” 

 

    “Okay.” Owen mumbled and walked off with Karen and Claire, Owen talking to Karen most of the way over. 

 

    In fact, Owen talked to Karen most of the time, opening up to her while Claire sat on the swing set, not knowing what to do. Claire was just starting to swing a bit when she saw muddy sneakers standing in front of her. 

 

    “Do you mind if I swing with you?” Owen asked with a grin, Claire noticing now that he had already lost one of his front teeth. 

 

    “Sure.” Claire shrugged as Owen got on the swing beside her. “So...do you like dinosaurs?” She asked nervously, hoping he did since he had one on his shirt and she didn’t know what else to talk about with him. 

 

    “Yeah.” Owen answered with a grin. “Do you?” 

 

    “Yeah.” Claire smiled. “What’s your favorite?” 

 

    “I like velociraptors, they’re super smart and fast, and they have these huge sharp claws!” Owen exclaimed Claire started to swing with him, enjoying the conversation. “What’s your favorite?” 

 

    “I like the tyrannosaurus rex!” Claire proclaimed proudly, she never just wanted to say ‘T-Rex’, she always wanted to challenge herself. “They’re huge, one of the biggest dinosaurs, they were like the King of the Dinosaurs!” 

 

    “Whoa.” Owen said in amazement. “I like you.” 

 

    “I like you too.” Claire said with a giggle. 

 

    “Hey, do you wanna come play with my dinosaurs sometime?” Owen questioned. “You can be the T-Rex.” 

 

    “Sure.” Claire smiled. 

 

    It was then that Claire noticed that Karen disappeared inside, giving her little sister a thumbs up from the back sliding doors to let her know she was proud of her actually making a friend. 

  
  


* * *

 

**Present**

 

    They took Owen away from her the minute they landed, rushing him into an operating room while ushering Claire into the waiting room, having her fill out paperwork and have panic attacks. Once the paperwork was done, all she could do was call her sister and relive the accident, read magazines, and watch whatever pointless game show was on TV. Claire resorted to fiddling with her charm bracelet from Own, filled with all custom made dinosaur charms, including a T-Rex with a heart charm attached to it that read  _ ‘I’ll never leave your side again -xoxo, Owen’ _ . He couldn’t leave her like this, he just couldn’t. All the terrible thoughts soon flooded Claire’s mind as she became overwhelmed with the very real possibility that Owen just might die, and that her last words to him this morning would have been  _ “Just go Owen, I don’t want to talk about it anymore! Just...please go.”  _

 

    Claire didn’t want Owen to die, she never wanted that, and the last thing she wanted was for him to die with a fight being the last time they spoke to each other this morning. He walked out the door, slamming it behind him, tired of years and years of Claire shutting him out as she always did - as she did with everyone else she ever knew. She swore that every time they fought that it just might be the last time, the time that Owen decides to not come back just as both of their fathers never did. But Owen always came back, and Claire would apologize - or perhaps Owen if he’d started the fight - and things would go back to how they were, they would be happy again. Now Claire didn’t have the chance to apologize, she didn’t even know if she’d have the chance to tell him how much she regretted their stupid fight. 

 

    “Mrs. Grady?” A nurse walked out into the waiting room, Claire instantly jumping from her seat and turning to face the nurse. 

 

    “Yes?” Claire asked. She’d been sitting in the waiting room for hours though it felt like days, and she swore her heart had never beat faster and she had never felt more nervous in her entire life. 

 

    “Your husband is stable, we were able to stitch up all of the wounds but...he has a broken arm, and his spine is fractured. He’s still unconscious, but the doctor is running some tests now to see if there is any swelling in his brain...also, though the doctor isn’t positive yet since your husband is still unconscious...he may be paralyzed from the wounds to his back.” The nurse looked so sympathetic, and Claire felt like breaking down and crying, but there was still one thing to be grateful for. 

 

     “So, he’s...he’s still alive?” Claire asked tentatively. 

 

     “Yes, he still has a heartbeat, he can breathe without machines, and he still has brain activity. He’s alive for now.” The nurse said. 

 

    “When can I see him?” Claire was anxious, a ball of twisted nerves that couldn’t be undone until she saw Owen again. 

 

    “As soon as the doctor finishes the tests, he’ll come out here and bring you back to him and explain everything that he’s found and what condition Owen may be in if he wakes up.” The nurse explained. 

 

    “If?” Claire’s voice broke as she asked the question. 

 

    “There’s a strong possibility that your husband may not wake up, especially if he has sever swelling in his brain.” The nurse somberly said. “But the doctor will come and talk to you when he knows. I’m very sorry, Mrs. Grady.” 

  
    And just like that, before Claire could protest or question the nurse further, she turned and left heading back into the rest of the hospital. All Claire did was sink down into her seat and start sobbing, Owen just might be gone forever this time. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Omg, okay, this took me FOREVER to write because work has been crushing my soul, but I finally got it done! Hopefully I did alright with this chapter, I think it turned out pretty good :D

    She was sitting at his side finally, all the tests and surgeries done for now and everything explained to Claire as clearly as it could be. There was very little swelling in his brain thankfully, which meant he would wake up within the next few days, but exactly when no one could tell; all his wounds were stitched up as well, and as for his back, it was still undetermined until Owen actually woke up. Claire had called Karen and told her everything, even though the incident managed to be all over the news already, people questioning whether or not the park was truly safe or if it was just a freak accident; as it was before the incident people wanted the T-Rex put down given her history on the island, but now the news made it seem as if the dinosaurs fate was set in stone and the exhibit was going to be shut down. Her phone had been ringing off the hook though she only answered calls from Zara, Karen, and Mr. Masrani, trying to stay by Owen’s side as much as she possibly could and hoping that he would just open his eyes already and give her a chance to take back every stupid thing she said this morning to him. 

 

    In attempts to keep her mind busy, Claire started trying to see where the nurses had put all of Owen’s things. His boots that were still caked in mud from the paddock were sitting in a bag in the corner of the room, she didn’t see his clothes which didn’t surprise her, his pants and shirt and vest had been torn and soaked with blood. She found all his others things that he had on him at the time in a bag on his bedside table, his cell phone was dead which didn’t surprise her, he always forgot to charge the damn thing, but everything else seemed in place - his dog tags, his wallet, his watch, and his wedding band were all there - and it seemed so wrong to see all of those things off of him and just cast aside in a plastic bag. Claire took his hand, so limp and lifeless at the moment, into her own hand and squeezed it tightly, just hoping for Owen to wake up and squeeze her hand back. 

 

    While she was running her thumb over his knuckles, she encountered the small scar still there that made her smile. It was something he’d earned when he was about eleven years old and Claire was ten, she’d gotten picked on by some snot nosed boy who made fun of her red hair and freckles and Owen knocked their lights out faster than Claire could process it. His hand, after colliding with the boys face, collided with the tree behind the boy and caused a few bones in Owen’s hand to fracture along with that funny little scar staying there forever. It got him suspended for a week, and Claire visited him everyday when she brought the homework to him and stayed to do it with him, and it also happened to be the first time she kissed Owen - on the cheek but still a kiss - and she thanked him for standing up for her; no one dared to pick on her after that, knowing they would have to face Owen Grady’s wrath if they did so. 

 

    Claire’s phone started ringing again, and she almost rejected the call out of habit, but when she noticed who it was calling her, she answered right away, still holding Owen’s hand to brace herself for the bad news she knew was coming already. 

 

    “Hello?” Claire answered. 

 

    “Hello Mrs. Grady, this is Dr. Carson, how are you feeling today?” Her doctor's voice came over the phone, calming and comforting surprisingly despite what she was caught up in. 

 

    “Physically, I’m fine, mentally...that’s another story.” Claire sighed, she didn’t really want to go into detail over the phone with her OB GYN that her husband was practically a vegetable at the moment and she was in a spiral of anxiety.  

 

    “I’ve seen the news about your husband, I’m so sorry that’s happened to him, is he alright?” Dr. Carson asked, of course she would have seen it on the news, it was probably the only thing on the news at the moment, plastered everywhere on nearly every channel. 

 

    “He’s...he’s stable for right now.” Claire said. 

 

    “Well, I do hope he makes a full recovery, he’s going to need some of that energy I’ve seen in him in these visits.” Dr. Carson explained. 

 

    “...What do you mean?” Claire asked, confused. 

 

    “Well, all those tests I sent out for urgently yesterday came back and, the baby is fine. It must have just been some normal breakthrough that you had, it happens from time to time, but you’re still pregnant, Mrs. Grady.” Dr. Carson announced, and Claire suddenly felt a mixture of relief and anxiety. The baby was fine - but Owen might not be - and thus their fight from this morning where she stupidly shut him out was for nothing, she was fine, their baby was fine for the first time ever. 

 

    “The baby is fine?” Claire asked again, just to be sure and process it. 

 

    “The baby is perfectly fine.” Dr. Carson repeated. “I’ll see you at our appointment next month Mrs. Grady, I do hope that your husband's recovery goes well.” 

 

    “Thank you.” Claire managed to say before hanging up and getting out of her chair to press a kiss to Owen’s bandaged temple. “The baby is fine Owen, I’m so sorry about that stupid fight, just please come back.” She mumbled against his skin before pulling away and sitting back down, brushing the tears from her eyes.

  
  


* * *

  
  


    It had been a full twenty-four hours now since Owen had gotten injured, Karen and the boys had just landed and after dropping their bags off at the hotel on the island, they were on the next ship back to the mainland where Claire and Owen were. She didn’t want to leave Owen’s side but she had to, the park was in full blown chaos, the T-Rex attraction was shut down and they were planning to put down the creature tonight with the new T-Rex they had been working on for weeks now on the brink of hatching along with it’s siblings. News anchors were flooding the place and overwhelming both Zara and Mr. Masrani, people were trying to sneak into the T-Rex attraction to see the beast one last time, others were protesting having it put down since it was  _ “only in the creatures nature to attack” _ , especially since Owen was by the goat when it attacked him. Everything was falling apart, and Mr. Masrani was on the verge of just shutting the entire island down to get rid of unnecessary personnel so they could control the situation on their own terms. Claire had to go back and figure out what had to be done and what could wait, she just hoped she would be able to come back tonight to stay with Owen again, she didn’t want to leave him alone for so long. 

 

    When Karen and the boys arrived, both Zach and Gray barreled towards her and hugged her tightly, murmuring how sorry they were about Uncle Owen into their embrace and promising that they’d keep him company while she had to go back to the island. Karen assured her that she’d let her know if anything with Owen changed, and before Claire left, she pulled her sister aside to tell her the one piece of good news she’d gotten since all hell broke loose. 

 

    “I still have the baby.” Claire whispered, making sure the boys wouldn’t hear since they didn’t even know they’d have a cousin soon yet. 

 

    “What?” Karen asked, a smile on her face. “Claire, that’s amazing.” 

 

    “I know, it’s just...before everything happened, yesterday I still didn’t know in the morning and...Owen and I fought. The last thing I said to him was to get out.” Claire’s eyes were watering again. “I just want him to wake up so I can take it back.” 

 

    “Claire, it’s okay. Owen loves you, even if you two fight he still loves you, I’ve never seen anyone love someone so much like he loves you.” Karen assured her with a hug. “And when he wakes up, the first thing you tell him is that he’s still going to be a dad.” 

 

    “I’m going to, I promise.” Claire nodded before she pulled away from her sister’s embrace. “If he wakes up, call me, I want to hear him.” 

 

    “I will, now go on and get there so you can get back.” Karen said. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


    When Claire got to the island, things had somehow managed to get even worse - with the staff from every corner of the island all over the place to help control the crowds, teenagers had made their way to the raptor pen and almost fell in becoming the next casualties of the island, more than twenty people had broken into the T-Rex enclosure viewing area, and the gyrospheres had to be shut down due to some triceratops acting up and nudging the spheres off course. It was complete chaos, but Claire was able to get things back under control - she had Barry and crew return to the raptors and make sure no one else gets out to them, she put ACU out in front of the T-Rex enclosure to ensure that people would no longer break in and irritate the T-Rex, and she sent medics out to the triceratops in the valley to see what was causing their behavior while the ride was down. Everything was under control until she had to face the press with Mr. Masrani and Zara at her side, recounting the prior days events. 

 

    “Will the park be putting down the T-Rex?” A reporter asked during the questions, something on everyone’s mind. 

 

    “We...uh.” Claire froze, she knew the answer but she just didn’t want to say it, because despite what happened, that T-Rex meant something to her and Owen. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


**5 Years Ago**

 

    Claire had gotten used to being surrounded by the larger than life dinosaurs of Jurassic World now, and she was surprised that despite it’s history, and after all these years, that she still found her favorite to be the T-Rex, and Owen was working with Raptors now - his dream job really. They had settled into their new lives, they had been through their fair share of bumps along the way, they’d been married for years now after all, and despite the recent rough patch, they were having a night out around the park and trying to enjoy themselves instead of dwell on all the bad. They were walking hand in hand down Main Street, digesting their huge steak dinner that they devoured and Owen had talked her into since he said she didn’t need to go through with this stupid diet because she already looked perfect to him just the way she was - he also mentioned he liked grabbing onto her curvy hips which made her blush bright red despite their long marriage so far. They had somehow ended up by the T-Rex encounter, and Owen had that devilish look in his eyes that told Claire he was up to nothing but trouble. 

 

    “Let’s sneak in.” Owen suggested to her. 

 

    “What? No, we’re not going in there!” Claire hissed. 

 

    “Claire, you practically run this place, I think you, if anyone, can sneak in with no one batting an eye at you.” Owen smirked. “Come on, when was the last time you even saw her? If we were still kids, you would have been dying to get in there and see her!” 

 

    “Fine, fine.” Claire sighed. “We’ll go in.” 

 

    Owen dragged her into the exhibit, they encountered a few guards but none questioned them since they valued their lives and didn’t want to piss off Claire Dearing-Grady and her husband Owen who could knock them out from here to next Sunday. They made it into the viewing area and were somehow lucky enough to walk in right as the T-Rex was right in front of the viewing area. She was sniffing around the fake log, looking in the glass and directly at Claire before walking off after a few moments into the other parts of her enclosure. 

 

    “I’ve never seen her that close before.” Claire said a bit breathless, up close to the glass and her inner child ecstatic that she had just seen the T-Rex so up close and personal. 

 

    “And you didn’t want to come in here.” Owen said with a smirk, hugging her from behind and his head resting on her shoulder. 

 

    “I hate it when you’re right.” Claire mumbled before turning around his his arms to kiss him. 

 

    “I think you kinda love it when I’m right sometimes.” Owen said with a broad grin as he pulled away. “...You know things are gonna be okay right?” He asked her, his hand moving to rest on her stomach, two months ago it filled her with joy, now it just felt like a reminder of what she lost. “We’re a family already, and maybe now just wasn’t the time. If we can’t have kids then we can’t, I still love you.” Owen assured her. “If you really want, we could adopt.” 

 

    “I think I just want it to set in for now.” Claire sighed. “But thanks.” 

 

    “Hey, we’re married for a reason right, for better or for worse?” He offered, reminding her of their wedding vows that they said years and years ago. 

 

    “I don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes.” Claire smiled and kissed him quickly again. “Come on, let’s get home, I’m exhausted and I have a meeting at seven in the morning.” 

  
  


* * *

  
  
    “Yes, we will be putting the T-Rex down, and a new T-Rex, raised under the care of new trainers, will replace her in time.” Claire said as the reporters started to errupt with new questions for her. 

**Author's Note:**

> also if you guys care to know, i'm on tumblr too @ elliesauruswriter.tumblr.com


End file.
